Choosing Home
by Reader115
Summary: Home Series - Part III - "Well, maybe later when you tell people the proposal story, you can leave out the part where you called me a jackass." "No way," Lance laughed with a shake of his head. which the "Home Series" AU Lance and Keith get hitched


So he and Keith were kinda space husbands now.

Just…Lance had no plans on mentioning it to his mamá. Ever.

* * *

While following yet another lead to track down Haggar, their mission had gone very _very_ wrong, landing Keith and Lance in a Galran jail cell together.

With them were two other apparent prisoners, both of whom were keeping their distance, probably unsure how to react to the guy with the same ears as their Galra captors. Although, to be fair, those glances Keith kept shooting across the jail cell weren't exactly _friendly_ , and pretty much rivaled the glares he sent the sentries standing guard. So while Lance had tried to tell the other prisoners that they were paladins of Voltron and meant no harm, he didn't exactly blame them for staying on their own side of the cell.

For now, he and Keith were seated on a cold floor, their backs pressed against the wall, and their shoulders pressed against each other. Their helmets and bayards had been taken, but Lance was fiddling with the tracking device Pidge had hidden in the inner sleeves of their suits when he heard Keith murmur quietly to him.

"I'm going to get you out of here."

"Us," he responded automatically. He was certain the tracking device was definitely activated, so he let his head fall back against the wall as his elbows dropped to his raised knees.

"Right. I'm going to get us out of here."

Lance pressed himself harder against Keith's side, while thinking that if his first wish (that they could suddenly be _anywhere but here_ ) wasn't going to pan out, then maybe he could at least wish for a little less tension in his boyfriend's shoulders — it currently felt like he was leaning up against a rock, a poor substitute for Keith's normally warm and cuddly body.

"I just don't want you to worry," Keith continued to murmur quietly to him.

Lance felt a shiver run down his spine that had nothing to do with the cold stone wall he was leaning against. Was Keith making his voice deeper like that on purpose?

"I'm going to get you out of here safely."

" _Us_ , dude," Lance insisted once again.

Keith nodded quickly.

Lance frowned at Keith's profile. "No self-sacrificing bullshit to get me out of here. Do you hear me, _Keith Stephanie Kogane_? Because if you think —"

Despite the clear tension, the newest middle name option actually got an eyeroll from Keith just before he captured one of Lance's flailing hands, looping their fingers together to cut off Lance's tirade. Then he wrapped his free arm around Lance, pulling him impossibly closer. The purple in his eyes darkened towards a murkier black as he focused solely on Lance's face; his ears pressed against his hair to complete the look of devoted protector.

"I just mean — you're mine to take care of. And I'm not letting anyone hurt you."

Between the fiercely protective expression and the deep, gravely voice, Lance suddenly deliberated on what level of wrong it was that he was getting very turned on while he was not only being held captive in a Galra base, but also being held in a small cell where they were definitely not alone — the eyes of the other prisoners were certainly trained on them both right now.

He also wondered if this was a benefit — and yes, he'd explain exactly what kind of benefit this was to Keith in a more _private_ setting — to Keith's Galra heritage. And if being surrounded in a compromised position by other Galra was bringing it out, or if Keith would react this way in any setting that placed Lance in danger.

He added it to his _Things to Ponder About Keith's Galra Heritage_ list, refocusing on Keith's pretty face before saying, "I'm never letting anyone hurt you, either, babe."

His fingers curled around Keith's neck so that he could pull him in for a kiss, prison cell audience be damned. It was worth it when he felt Keith melt against him and move his lips in response, finally releasing some of that tension that wasn't doing them any good while they were stuck just sitting here.

When they broke apart a few moments later, he squeezed Keith's fingers tighter within his own, letting his head fall back against the wall behind them again.

"The oath and osculation seal the bond."

At the sudden sound of the new voice speaking in their cell, Lance lifted his head again and focused on the tiny prisoner in the corner. Very little of the alien was actually visible, due to the many elaborate silver robes they wore, but its green face revealed three large eyes and a small mouth, which was now openly chanting words Lance no longer understood, while his long arms waved around in an elaborate — although seemingly purposeful — pattern.

"Congratulations, you two." Lance slowly focused away from the arm movements of the first alien to the next one who spoke, a rather burly, feathered creature who was now offering them a wide grin. "It was an honor to witness the lifebond ceremony of two of Voltron's noble paladins."

Lance glanced at Keith, who had also been watching the robed alien continue his arm waving ritual, before he spared Lance a glance as well.

"Uh, lifebond?" Lance asked warily.

The feathered alien nodded enthusiastically, while the robed one appeared to complete the arm dance before sinking into their robes as if to sleep. "Your exchange of vows of devotion followed by that osculation in front of a Priest from the Land of the Eighteen Seas. _It was really touching_."

"Osculation?" Lance repeated as the words _vows_ and _priest_ rolled around in his head. _And was the feather dude wiping a tear from his eye?_

The beak the guy had didn't deter him from making impressive kissy noises in their direction. "Osculation."

"We're married?" Keith finally jumped into this conversation, his voice cracking part way through his question.

"Married?" the feathered one asked with a tilt of his head. "Is that your word for pledging an oath to stand by each other for the rest of your days?"

Lance nodded dumbly in return.

"Then yes." Another wide grin. "How fortuitous that the priest was here with us."

* * *

Their rescue was (sadly) rather routine, but (happily) said routine involved minimal injuries this time. Keith, Lance, and their cellmates were all rushed onto the Castle of Lions by the other Paladins during a brief skirmish with their captors — the Galra had no time to fully retaliate before Allura had opened up a wormhole and finished off their escape.

Afterwards, there was some maneuvering to shuttle their fellow prisoners safely back to their own homes, which thankfully only took a few hours. Later on, after Keith and Lance had changed out of their paladin armor, and the debriefing that involved explaining how they'd ended up in a jail cell in the first place, Lance quickly trailed after the castle ship's main advisor and caught up with him in a hallway.

"Coran? So, um, question about that priest we rescued back there."

"I'm sure his homeland will be quite grateful to have him returned," Coran responded as he paused his steps to allow Lance to catch up with him. "Actual priests were always quite rare, and I hear their numbers had dwindled even further with Zarkon's reign."

"So, when they call him a priest, though, does he have, like, universal domain?"

Coran raised an eyebrow in question. "Universal domain in regards to…?"

Lance bit his lip, wondering how to phrase what he wanted to really ask, without making it sound like it would be the worst thing ever. 'Cause it wouldn't. It really wouldn't. But…

"Like, could the priest just marry off two people without their consent?" he finally asked in a rush.

"Oh!" Coran's eyes lit up in recognition. "Yes! They were quite well known for doing just that. In fact, it was thought to be quite the honor to be randomly bonded for life by a priest from the Land of the Eighteen Seas. From what I heard, they had an impressive track record in recognizing true mates." Coran turned and began walking again before he continued speaking.

However, Lance stayed where he was as Coran's voice trailed off down the hallway, spouting out facts about each of seas located in the Land of the Eighteen Seas. He stared without seeing at the wall opposite before slowing turning to retrace his steps.

But he froze mid-turn, because there stood Keith, a few feet down the hallway, watching Lance with a guarded expression.

"Hey _husband_." Lance let the word roll off his tongue easily before quickly closing the distance between the two of them. He busied himself with tilting Keith's head in his hands so he could examine the temple bruise Keith earned during their prison escape. "Do you have a headache? Do you need a pod for this?"

Keith pulled Lance's hands away so he could level his face again to make eye-contact. "We're actually married?"

"I mean, if you want to believe a bird alien and a ten-thousand-plus-year-old Altean," Lance said, scratching a finger over his own temple.

Keith had a way of squinting when he had a headache, and since he wasn't currently doing that, Lance was willing to let Keith ignore his question about needing a healing pod. For now.

He met Keith's eyes again and watched as those purple irises danced back and forth across his face, clearly looking for something more of a response. So, Lance grinned cheerily at him, and pulled Keith in close using tight grips around his elbows, guiding Keith's arms around his back so that they'd both be on the receiving end of a hug. He ducked his face into Keith's hair, giving himself a place to hide, if only for a few moments.

"There you guys are."

Hunk's voice carried down the hallway towards them, and Lance had barely let go of Keith before they were both being lifted into a hug from Hunk. Lance returned the hug eagerly, and could see Keith's small half-grin as he did the same on Hunk's other side.

"Man, we were so worried about you." Hunk released them to the ground again, but only after he'd turned the three of them around so that he could immediately begin leading them towards the dining hall. "I bet you're both starving, huh?"

"Definitely," Lance responded. "Haggar's Galra are really poor hosts. Not even a cheese and cracker tray."

Hunk gasped dramatically.

"I'm thinking about writing a strongly worded letter to the management."

"What are you complaining about?" Pidge asked. She practically dove to hug first Lance and then Keith as they entered the dining hall, almost as if she'd been waiting by the door for them to arrive.

"Hostage hospitality issues," Keith muttered. Pidge had gained some height over the past few years, and it was easier to rest his head on top of her unruly hair as he squeezed her in return when it was his turn for a hug.

"Couldn't have been all bad," Matt said, passing bowls down to the two of them when they reached the table. "I hear you got hitched."

Shiro's head popped up from the tablet he'd been reading on Matt's other side. His eyes traveled from Keith to Lance and back again. "You did?"

"What is 'hitched'?" Allura inquired from where she sat.

"What do you mean, you _heard_?" Lance asked suspiciously.

"I pulled footage," Pidge said plainly as she took her own seat.

Lance could feel Keith's eyes on him again, and once again, he let a grin take over his face. "Awesome. So, not only did we get a free ceremony, but we didn't have to pay for a wedding video either. _Nice_."

"How did you manage to get married while being held captive?" Shiro asked incredulously.

"We are men of many talents, Shiro. It's called multitasking," Lance said with a wave of his hand.

"Congratulations, you two!" Hunk exclaimed as he appeared suddenly behind them and wrapped them both up in another enthusiastic hug, which practically pulled them out of their chairs.

"It's certainly a surprise," Shiro added.

"But the good kind of surprise, yes?" Shay added with a soft smile to Keith.

Now it was Lance's turn to side-eye Keith for his reaction. He watched as Keith sent Shay a quick nod and a small smile in return. Lance wasn't sure what to make of that. Shay had moved in with them on the castleship almost two years ago, and had proven again and again to be strong competition with Hunk for the _nicest person in the universe_ title. You couldn't help but smile and agree with anything she said when she smiled at you like that.

"Well, then congratulations." Shiro squeezed Keith's shoulder briefly before giving in and leaning over to give him a proper hug.

"Yup, best surprise ever," Lance added— _why was his voice that loud? Was it always that loud?_ "Like — ever. So, Hunk, do we have anything like champagne? I'm officially calling this dinner our reception." Never mind that their reception dinner consisted of food goo, which he was currently scarfing down like his life depended on it.

He was moving too fast. Talking too fast. He couldn't help it. Keith's eyes were back on him, and Lance could practically _feel_ Keith waiting for him to have some sort of reaction other than _overly cheerful_. His eyes quickly flicked to Keith's face, and he cringed inwardly when he saw Keith's ears immediately flatten to his head. So… apparently whatever expression his face had settled on hadn't been what Keith was hoping for.

"Ooh, actually we do have something!" Hunk raced to the kitchen and promptly returned with a bottle and some glasses, just as Coran joined the group. Hunk poured an orange, fizzy drink before passing the glasses around.

"To Lance and Keith!" Matt cheered, which was followed by similar toasts across the table as everyone around them seemed to blindly accept that their teammates randomly becoming space husbands was all things wonderful and amazing.

Pretty much how Lance _thought_ he should be feeling. Was it _maybe_ how Keith was feeling? He shot another grin at Keith as they clinked their glasses together, before watching Keith's eyes travel warily over his face again.

He hadn't even slowed down enough to gauge Keith's reaction. Of course, maybe that was because Keith hadn't visibly had a reaction yet. Keith seemed pretty busy trying to read Lance. And Lance was busy trying to appear nothing but _very very happy_.

Deciding they needed some alone time, he pulled on Keith's hand as he stood. "Thanks for the rescue and reception, guys. I think it's time to take my new husband to bed."

"Too much detail," Hunk said with a laugh.

"It's the same thing we do every night," Keith deadpanned.

"Honestly, _frequency_ really is too much detail," Shiro added, and Lance had a hard time not laughing at the shit-eating grin their leader had aimed at his husband.

His husband, Keith.

"We're just gonna go _osculate_ ," Lance teased, although his smile grew more genuine when he caught Keith smirking at Shiro's new expression — a mixture of confusion and shock — as if Shiro wasn't sure if he should continue scolding them for over-sharing. He left Shiro to ask Matt about his new vocabulary word, and finally managed to pull Keith up out of his chair.

They walked in silence back to their bedroom — not uncomfortable silence, Lance noted as he swung their intertwined hands together. And, as expected, Keith was apparently waiting until they were in the privacy of their own bedroom to speak.

"Lance, listen —"

"Were you doing that thing on purpose?" Lance asked, cutting off whatever Keith was going to try to say. He watched Keith's ears pop up in surprise at the interruption.

"What thing?"

He crowded into Keith's space, trapping him against the wall near the door. "That thing with your voice earlier. The _don't worry Lance, I'm not going to let anyone hurt you_ thing with your voice."

"I wouldn't let anyone hurt you," Keith nearly growled in return.

And yeah, _there it was_. One corner of Lance's mouth lifted in a small grin as arousal immediately simmered under his skin. He slid one leg between Keith's and tightened the arms he had wrapped around Keith's shoulders.

"That's really hot," Lance murmured against Keith's lips before pressing a kiss to Keith's mouth.

There was another small growl from Keith's throat as Keith's lips pressed back into the kiss, and Lance was so caught up in the familiar heat that he didn't notice Keith's hands moving until they were gripping under his thighs and hoisting him up.

"Know what else is hot?" Keith murmured in that same low voice.

"The fact that you can pick me up and carry me like this?"

Lance had barely wrapped his legs around Keith's waist before Keith had walked them across the room, and he was dropped to their mattress. Keith didn't join him right away, though, choosing instead to go after the button on Lance's jeans before yanking the pants off by the ankles. Lance waited till the pants were gone before shooting up to a sitting position. With Keith standing between his knees, he slid his hands up Keith's shirt, fingers running over the planes and ridges of Keith's chest, all while Keith did him the favor of just standing still. Lance could feel Keith's chest rise and fall, his breaths practically pants even though they hadn't done much more than kiss.

It made him smile, though. Lance knew the feel of Keith's skin under his fingers. Knew what Keith tasted like. What sounds he could pull from him. It had been years since he'd memorized all of these things. And yet… he knew none of it felt old or tiresome to either of them. Recognizing that Keith wanted him just as badly as he wanted Keith was almost as hot as the feeling of Keith pressed against him. Eager to get to that point, he finally pushed the shirt over Keith's head and went after the button on Keith's pants, especially motivated when he met Keith's gaze again and saw the hungry look in those purple eyes.

There was some fumbling as Keith went after his shirt while Lance was still trying to relieve Keith of his pants, but then Keith was _finally_ joining him in bed and _finally_ kissing him again, all while grinding against him and frantically reaching under their pillows to look for where Lance had previously left the lube. There was an adorable grunt of victory when Keith found it, and Lance laughed as he moved his lips down to work over Keith's neck.

"I could kiss you forever," Lance murmured. His hips thrust towards Keith automatically when he felt Keith's hand sliding up his thigh. "I'm really digging our wedding night, babe."

At that, all of Keith's movements completely stopped, and Lance slowly opened his eyes to see if he'd just ruined everything by mentioning the whole _space husbands_ thing. A few ticks went by without Keith saying anything. But words weren't altogether necessary as Lance watched the heat and hunger that had filled Keith's eyes a few moments ago be slowly replaced by something tender. Something that looked a lot like pure adoration. He watched as Keith stared down at him like he was something precious.

Keith's fingers went back to work, but the frenzy of before was gone as Keith lowered his head and began to leave a trail of slow kisses that began at Lance's lips and moved down to suck on the skin of his neck. Lance felt Keith smile against his skin as Lance's immediate response was a low moan, his back arching off their mattress. But instead of taking advantage of that weak spot, Keith's mouth moved on again, trailing kisses over his collar bones before continuing his worshiping treatment over Lance's chest.

It was a flurry of sensations that included writhing from Keith's unrelenting fingers as he prepped him, mixed in with soft gasps and moans from Keith's slow and patient lips and tongue sliding reverently over his skin. Keith kept his eyes on him as he worked with that same look of adoration, and Lance wasn't sure how Keith managed to make him feel so soft and open just by _looking at him_.

" _Keith_ ," he pleaded in a voice that was wrecked — he hoped Keith was happy with himself — before yanking Keith back upwards so that he could kiss him again.

"Okay," Keith whispered in response before removing his fingers and doing exactly as Lance wished.

Maybe he'd been trying to rile Keith up for _fast and hard and hungry_ when he'd first pressed him against the wall when they'd entered the room, but he couldn't complain over the steady sweet pace Keith set instead. Not when Keith's eyes remained full of love and fondness like that. Not when Keith's hands were so gentle that Lance almost felt bad about the marks he was likely leaving on the skin of Keith's back. Not when he'd mentioned that this was their _wedding night_ and Keith had taken it upon himself to make it special. To make sure Lance felt loved.

He gasped into Keith's mouth with his finish, still not sure how they got that far with what had felt like just a few soft touches.

And with the mission and the capture and the _getting hitched_ and the rescue and the reception and the mutually pleasant bedroom activity… it didn't take much more than that for Keith to fall right to sleep afterwards… without asking Lance any additional questions.

Lance brushed some of Keith's hair off his forehead before pulling Keith in close like he did every night, lining their bodies up so that Keith fit perfectly against him.

"I love you," he whispered into Keith's neck, finally feeling sleepy himself now that he was sated and wrapped up tight around Keith in their comfortable bed.

One of Keith's ears flicked towards his voice before he instinctually nudged himself closer to Lance in his sleep.

* * *

Lance could be…distracting when he wanted to be. Keith recognized the act for what it was. He wasn't an idiot. And maybe he should be pressing Lance to actually talk to him about their…marriage. But Lance's technique was unfairly…accurate.

So, Keith was letting him get away with it.

For now, anyway.

He watched as Lance announced that he and his _husband_ had arrived at the breakfast table each morning. As Lance told everyone to watch how badass his _husband_ was during Voltron training drills.

How his small talk with each new planet's diplomats always involved a dramatic finger gun in his direction as Lance would proudly announce: " _That cute red paladin over there? He's mine. I locked him down_." (A phrase that didn't go over so well with non-Earthlings, _go figure_ , as they all began to look very concerned for Keith's well being. Shiro nixed the term _ball and chain_ after that fiasco as well).

So Lance switched to just calling Keith his husband. Loudly. And often. To anyone who would listen.

Keith couldn't deny that there was definitely a zing of pleasure that ran through him every time Lance referenced him as his husband. Really, it was too bad his heart wouldn't just let him enjoy it, instead of quickly stamping down that happiness every time. But while Lance was all toothy grins with everyone, those smiles didn't quite reach his eyes. There was definitely something worrisome running rampant in Lance's head.

And when they were alone — the only time that Keith dared to open his mouth to _try_ to ask Lance what he thought about their marriage — Lance went right back to _distracting_ him, often beginning with lines like, " _I don't think I've given you an osculation yet today, babe_ " or " _Those pants look like they're bothering you. Let's get them off_."

Keith sighed, drawing the attention of Shiro, and he reminded himself he was supposed to be paying attention to the intel Kolivan had brought them, not trying to decide how to get his husband (no, he wasn't aggressively shoving the word down the throat of everyone he met, but… yes, he was using it in his own head) to talk to him about their impromptu vows.

When the meeting was over, Kolivan asked to speak with Keith privately, and Shiro and Princess Allura waved them off as Keith offered to walk Kolivan back to the hangar where his ship waited.

Once he said his goodbyes to Kolivan, he made his way to the training deck, where he found Lance, his blue eyes narrowed in deep concentration as he ran through a shooting drill.

Thankfully, Lance had a genuine smile for Keith when he was spotted, and after covering his face in kisses, he quickly turned his attention to what Keith was holding.

"Is that new?" Lance asked, running his fingers over the hilt of the knife in Keith's hands. It had the same insignia as Keith's Marmoran knife, but Lance had seen Keith's knife often enough to recognize that the handle on this one was different.

"Yes, Kolivan just gave it me."

"Wow. That's an honor, right? I didn't think the Blade just handed these things out. Or, should I be concerned because some other dude is giving my husband knives?" He teased with a grin, but his smile faltered when he saw Keith's ears flatten.

"Actually, Kolivan asked to speak to me privately, to congratulate me on our official — _mating_." He scrunched up his face as his eyes met Lance's again. "Although, I tried to teach him the word _marriage_ , because — anyway. This was a gift. And it's for you, actually."

"For me?" Lance asked quietly as he accepted the knife from Keith.

"Well, you're right. It is an honor for them to hand these out. Apparently marrying me makes you an official Blade member. As my mate." Keith paused and watched as Lance rubbed his thumb over the purple Marmoran insignia on the handle. "I had to teach him the word _husband_ , too."

Lance released a wet chuckle and Keith's eyes widened in alarm when he saw the tears welling up in Lance's eyes.

"Wait, what?" Keith wrapped his hands around Lance's shoulders and squeezed as he waited for a response.

"It's just—" Lance paused and swallowed as he visibly willed the tears away before they could fall. "This is a wedding present. A real wedding present with real meaning and honor behind it. It just — makes the whole thing a bit more real."

"And you don't want it to be real?" Keith asked quietly.

"Keith, no, _of course_ I do."

"But, then, why — "

"Birthday parties!"

Keith made a questioning noise in his throat as he was forced to release Lance's shoulders as Lance began to pace in front of him.

"You never had birthday parties, Keith. Or graduation parties, or ' _Hey, awesome goal during the game, let's go get ice cream_ ' parties. The _least_ I could do for you, Keith, is give you a family-filled wedding day!"

"Lance, you didn't — it's not like either of us planned for it to happen. This isn't your fault. Well, wait …" His ears flattened as he frowned at the ground. "I don't think fault is the right word."

"I know. I know what you mean. But, I just — you deserve way more than a grungy, dark jail cell wedding ceremony."

Keith tilted his head and watched Lance continue to pace. This wasn't what he was expecting. He hadn't thought Lance was upset _on his behalf_.

"I want to give you the best of everything, space cat."

"You already do," he whispered back.

Lance's face finally lost that desperate edge he'd been walking around with as something much warmer took its place. He approached Keith and pulled him in close so that he could run his fingers through his hair, paying special attention to both ears — leaving Keith no choice but to close his eyes and release a soft purr just as Lance leaned in to kiss him.

Keith leaned into the kiss, because how could he not when Lance's lips always moved perfectly against his own? Even so, he pulled his mouth away, and rested his forehead against Lance's, determined to keep this conversation going. No way did he want to go through all this again now that Lance was finally talking.

"I thought maybe you were upset because we got married without your family," Keith whispered. He let his fingers wrap around the back of Lance's neck so he could play with the hair at his nape. "That is part of it too, right?"

Lance didn't answer immediately. Instead, he continued to let one of his hands roam through Keith's hair before he finally spoke. "Well, which part of the story do you think my family will like best? The part where they weren't there? Or the part where we didn't even know what we were doing? Oh! Or the part where we were captured by the enemy and our lives were in danger?"

Lance took a few steps away from him then, and Keith immediately missed his hands on him.

"I hate that I'm even upset about this, Keith, because I would choose you again and again and again."

Blue eyes found his face, imploring Keith to understand, and Keith sent Lance a small nod in return.

"And I don't know how you feel about it, and I want you to tell me next, but I don't know…"

Keith watched as Lance stared off across the large training room, and counted ticks to force himself to be patient.

"I'm not sure it feels real?" Lance's eyes moved back to Keith's face, likely watching for a reaction, and Keith did his best to keep his face open and neutral. "I mean, we didn't know what we were doing, and that's part of it. But also…" His voice trailed off, and he ran a hand through his own hair. " _They_ weren't there. It doesn't feel real cause they weren't there, and I've already disappointed them enough."

"You're not a disappointment and you know it." Keith's tone was hard, leaving no room for argument. Lance wasn't going to get away with saying anything like that to him. Not when Keith knew it wasn't true. And not when Keith actually knew Lance's family.

But it didn't get much more heartbreaking than watching Lance's shoulders droop and his lips pout in honest frustration. Their lives as paladins were rewarding in the sights they experienced, in the people they helped, and in the ability to live and work with their closest friends. But it took from them as well. It took family birthdays and holidays and Sunday evening barbecues. Really, the _least_ Keith could do was give Lance a family-filled wedding day as well.

He took the few steps necessary to plant himself in front of Lance, breathed in a quick puff of air, and then dropped down to one knee. Those bright blue eyes widened in surprise at the sight, and Keith squeezed both of Lance's hands within his own, both to reassure Lance and himself.

"Marry me." Keith's voice was low, but firm. "Marry me on Earth. Marry me in the sun. Marry me in front of your family. Marry me on _your_ beach where our future shack will sit."

" _Keith_." Lance squeezed his fingers around Keith's and pulled with all he was worth to get Keith up off his knee so he could be pulled into a tight hug.

"Marry me and make me a McClain," Keith whispered into Lance's ear.

"You're so — you're so —" Lance wiped aggressively at his eyes, before giving in and pressing his teary face into Keith's neck. "You're such a jackass."

Keith huffed indignantly, although he didn't loosen his grip on Lance or push him away.

"I'm supposed to be the romantic one here, you jerk. And you just whip out this proposal like — _no big deal_."

Keith's smile slowly grew as he listened to Lance. And as Lance finally pulled his face out of his neck, Keith reached up with both hands and used his thumbs to wipe the tears from Lance's face.

"Well, maybe later when you tell people the proposal story, you can leave out the part where you called me a jackass."

"No way," Lance laughed with a shake of his head.

"Fine." Keith shrugged, his own mouth pulled into a smirk. "But no more knife jokes from you."

"What!"

"You just cried all over your new knife."

"Over the _gesture_."

"The knife made you finally talk to me." Keith wrapped an arm around Lance's waist and began to lead him out of the room.

"Awesome. We'll tell people you got me to talk at knife-point."

"You were the one holding the knife the whole time!"

"Fine. I didn't call you a jackass, and you didn't threaten me with a knife to get me to talk."

"I didn't!" Keith laughed.

* * *

"Can I get you anything, Keith?" Mora asked.

Arranging to visit Earth hadn't taken much — Allura, Coran, and Shiro had been all too willing to alter the diplomatic schedule. Once they were sure that the latest sector they had liberated was stable, they had sent a message ahead to the McClain household, just a few weeks after Keith's proposal.

"No thank you. You've honestly given me enough," Keith responded, soft eyes on Lance from across the McClain family's kitchen.

"You sappy bastard," Lance muttered in response as he swiftly made his way around the island and wrapped himself around Keith's back. "She was asking if you wanted a drink."

"And we're not really giving you Lance as much as you're _taking him off our hands_ ," Ray joked.

Theo's sudden laughter left him choking on his drink, and Keith completely understood where the McClain sense of humor originated.

When they'd been close enough to Earth to get in a video chat, Lance had giddily announced the engagement to a screen full of McClains, with Mora front and center. That hadn't been the original plan, but Lance couldn't contain his excitement with all of his family asking why the sudden, unscheduled visit, with no special occasion … There had been much loud screaming and cheering, even though this was a surprise to no one. Keith already felt close to Lance's family, but the amount of happiness he could feel exuding from them, even from so far away … Keith hadn't cried, but it was a near miss.

"Speaking of," Gabby interjected as she gave Theo a few half-hearted pats on the back. "You need us to throw together a wedding in a week?"

"Not, like, a big wedding," Lance said with a shrug, his chin resting comfortably now on one of Keith's shoulders. "Just something small down on the beach."

"Small like …?" Gabby asked with a raised eyebrow.

Keith and Lance stared back at her, confused.

"Head count?" Gabby asked patiently. "Even if it's just the rest of the Voltron crew, that's already too many people to just host it here at the house. We'll need a tent with some tables for the beach. And one of those portable dance floors." She already had a tablet settled in front of her on the island, and they all relaxed a bit as the most organized family member began to make notes.

"I call dibs on going cake testing with you," Theo piped in.

"Ooh, me too," Rosie added.

"If we can find a bakery that will make the cake on short notice," Mora murmured as she leaned into Gabby's side to add notes to the tablet.

"Can't you just, like, drop the Voltron name?" Theo asked with a small grin. "I bet people would be pretty happy to rush bake or rent out anything to help defenders of the universe."

"Actually," Keith said, "we should probably try to keep this quiet. We don't really want the news stations to show up on the front lawn again. Or try to crash the wedding down on the beach."

"Wait, _you_ don't drop the Voltron name when you go places, do you?" Lance asked with narrowed eyes in Theo's direction.

"Pfft, no way, bro." Theo widened his eyes, raising his hands in a _not me_ gesture that was far too innocent.

Lance continued to frown at his little brother while Keith hid a small grin.

"Anyway, Mamá, Gabs," Lance turned away from Theo and refocused on his mother's and sister's continued planning, "thanks for jumping in to help, but we don't want you stressing about this. We can make cupcakes from a grocery store box mix for all Keith and I care, we just —"

"We know, Lance." Mora beamed at both Lance and Keith. "You two just enjoy your time home and let us plan something special for you. What matters is that we're all together for your big day."

Keith pinched one of the arms Lance still had wrapped around him. Lance grunted and bumped a hip into Keith's back.

 _That was a hard no to telling her the truth._

* * *

"I can't believe we're lying to your family. _To your mamá_."

"It's for her own good," Lance responded sleepily, unsure if he was even really conscious or just imagining Keith talking this damn early in the morning. "Keithy, why are you awake?"

Keith pushed himself up so he could drape his own chest across Lance's chest. He pressed a kiss to Lance's nose as he focused on his _husband's_ face in the darkened room. Lance's warm hands wrapped around his back and began tracing patterns into his skin.

"I thought you were going to tell them what happened when we got here last night."

"That we accidentally got married in a prison cell?" Lance still hadn't opened his eyes, but resigned himself to Keith's obvious insistence that they be awake now.

"I mean, not in those words."

"You really think we should tell them the truth?"

"You know them better than me," Keith whispered. "But, maybe they'd stress less or not overdo any of the planning if they knew _why_ we just wanted something small?"

"McClains never _overdo_."

Keith made a disbelieving noise and Lance tightened his arms around Keith's back before using a flat foot on the mattress to flip them so he could pin Keith beneath him. Blue eyes finally opened to focus on Keith. His Keith.

"You want to go watch the sunrise on the beach with me?" He kissed Keith as Keith nodded up at him, before slowing extracting himself from their bed. He turned on a small lamp on his desk so he could try to find a clean shirt. "We have to go out today and find some wedding bands," he said as lifted his arms above his head to stretch his back.

"Oh, no, I, uh, I already have some."

Sleepy or not, that got Lance's attention _quiznaking fast_ , and he spun around to face where Keith stood on the opposite side of the bed.

"Run that by me again?"

Keith silently made his way over to the desk that had once belonged to Mark, and dug around in his bag, which had taken up temporary residence on top of it. When he found the small box he was looking for, he turned and tossed it to Lance.

"Can we grab something from the kitchen to take with us to the beach?"

Lance stared incredulously up at him as his fingers worked to open the box, unable to understand the words Keith had just spoken, because what did Keith mean _he'd already picked up rings for them_?

He gave up trying to get the strange alien box open and continued to gape at Keith.

"Keith Kogane, you just — you just had rings? In your bag? For how long?"

Keith's head tilted in what appeared to be honest confusion. "Well, we've been saying we were going to get married almost since we started dating. So, when I saw the rings, I just — picked them up."

"Are you — You just out-romanced me again, didn't you?"

Keith lips pulled into a grin, but he didn't say anything as he walked around the bed and pulled the still unopened box from Lance's hands. There was a turn of a small, hidden lock, which popped the lid open, displaying the two rings which sat side by side within. Keith stared down at them for a moment before turning the box around so that Lance could finally see the wedding bands he'd had stored away for over a year.

Lance slowly took the box back into his own hands, and when his only reaction was to stare and possibly stop breathing, Keith thought he'd better start explaining.

"Do you remember Onaclov? That planet that pretty much just consisted of an ocean interspersed with all those volcanoes? And how the constant eruptions didn't seem to bother the Onaclovians?"

"They said it was the balance of life," Lance responded quietly as he kept his eyes on their rings.

"Right. The heat of the lava was constantly cooled by the ocean water, and vice versa."

"If you're about to say that it's a metaphor for us, I'm marrying you so hard, my dude."

Keith chuckled, happy that Lance already recognized where he was going so he wouldn't have to say it out loud.

"You already did." That got a small chuckle from Lance as well, and Keith felt some of his nerves ease off. "Well, I found these rings while we were there. The shopkeeper said they were made from lava rocks. Well, lava rocks that have been coated several times by ocean waves, which I think he said the salt adds to the metal, making it a fairly strong alloy. In fact, he suggested we never gain or lose any weight, cause they'll be near impossible to cut open and resize."

"These rings are a mixture of fire and water?" Lance's voice was hoarse as he finally lifted his eyes away from the rings — one shimmered with black and red hues while the other shone with silver and blue swirls — to meet Keith's eyes again.

"Literally." He felt his own breathing slow as he watched Lance's face. "Are — are they okay?"

" _Are they okay_ ," Lance repeated the words in a low exhale. He reverently lowered the box to his bedside table before tackling Keith back onto their bed without warning.

Lance kissed him with a passion that had something warm flare up in Keith's belly immediately. But he was distracted by the taste of salt on his lips.

"Those are happy tears, yes?" he whispered.

"Yes. They're perfect. You're perfect." Lance's voice was low near his ear as he trailed kisses down to his neck.

Keith exhaled sharply through his nose. "M'not perfect." His hands found the hem of Lance's shirt and he ran his hands up the back of it. He massaged his fingertips into the muscles he could feel shifting under Lance's warm skin.

"Perfect for me," Lance whispered.

"I wonder if everyone gets this mushy when they get married," Keith teased.

Lance laughed into Keith's neck. "Or cries this much."

"You're definitely crying at the ceremony."

Lance lifted his head, showing off a smirk on his tear-stained face. "You will too!"

"You will first."

"Wanna bet?"

* * *

"Laney seems like she's doing really well," Lance remarked as he helped Mark clear his small table and carry their dishes to the sink.

Lance had wanted to see the house Mark had bought a few months ago, so he'd invited himself and Keith over for dinner. As soon as she'd been excused from the table, Laney had pulled "Tío Keef" off to play with her. He missed the days when she referred to Keith as "Kitty," but the fact that she couldn't quite say his name correctly yet was easing his heartache over the matter.

"Well, you probably noticed at dinner, but she does. Not. Stop. Talking." Mark sighed heavily.

"Is that a three year old thing? Or a McClain thing?"

"Very funny. That's what Gabby asked as well." Mark slid their few dishes into the dishwasher and watched as Lance wandered over to look at the pictures he had framed in the adjourning living room. Lance and Keith had made it home a couple times over the past two years, and Mark had quite a few pictures from their visits included with all the other family photos.

"So, uh," Lance spoke as he leaned down to grin at a particularly cute picture of Laney smashing cake in Keith's face when they'd been home for her second birthday. "I was kind of hoping you would come stand with me as my best man at the ceremony this weekend."

Mark turned back towards him, the glass he'd been about to load in the dishwasher still in his hands. "Me? You don't want to ask Hunk?"

"Well, I mean I want Hunk and Theo backing me up, too. But, uh —"

"I guess I just thought of Hunk cause you get to see him all the time, and I know he's your best friend, outside of Keith —"

"You were my first best friend. As my older brother, you've literally been there for me my whole life."

There was a pause from Mark before he finally got the glass into the dishwasher. He turned back to Lance and fought a smile as he said, "Do I have to get a tux?"

"Nah," Lance said with a relieved smile. "Way too hot down on the beach for that."

"Thank goodness."

"Mamá's picking up white button downs and khaki pants. Maybe suspenders for you guys. Keith and I are going to look smokin' hot in vests."

"Blue and red ones?"

"Shut up. Keith looks good in red. Plus, you can't deny a blue vest is going to make my eyes pop."

"You're such a dork," Mark said with a laugh as he closed the dishwasher. He approached Lance and glanced down the hall towards the bedrooms, making sure Laney was nowhere in sight. "Alright, well, as your best man and older brother, I feel as though it is my responsibility to —"

"Nope, stop right there!" Lance recognized that devious grin on his brother's face. He began to do an impressive backwards speedwalk down the hallway.

"You don't want to be unprepared for what's expected of you on the wedding night!" Mark said, laughing as he began to give chase. "Come back here so I can educate you!"

"You're the worst!" Lance hissed at him, aware that they were nearing the bedrooms, and therefore nearing Laney and her innocent ears. Thankfully, he was saved by Mark's phone ringing out in the kitchen, and with his way-too-helpful brother gone, he crept silently down the hallway to the bedroom door that had Laney's name hanging from a cute sign. The door sat partway open, and Lance hung back, because even if he couldn't see in the room, what he could hear so far put a huge grin on his face.

"Tío Keef! You have to sing it too!"

There was laughter from Keith as he said, "I don't know the words!"

"I sang it five times!"

"Okay, but umpky-umpkin…"

"Pumpy-umpy-umpkin!"

"And snookums?"

There was a squeal of laughter from Laney, and Lance suddenly understood the phrase " _smiling from ear to ear_ " as he was certain that's how wide his current smile was.

"Those aren't real words!" Keith's voice was barely able to say those words through his own laughter.

"We'll try again!" Laney announced.

Lance chanced a glance into Laney's room then, and found his husband seated on the bedroom floor with Laney skipping around him in a fairy costume, complete with a wand which she waved back and forth as she began to sing.

"You're my honeybunch, sugar plum, pumpy…" She paused and raised an expectant eyebrow at Keith.

Keith looked like he was going to try to protest.

Laney's eyebrow went even higher up her forehead.

"…umpy-umpkin," Keith said with a sigh.

Laney jumped up and down in victory before she bopped the top of Keith's head with her wand, sending his ears flicking back (although he didn't look the least bit bothered), before she began skipping around him again and continued to sing.

"You're my sweetie pie. You're my cuppycake, gumdrop…"

She stopped in front of Keith again and waited.

"…snookums snookums."

Lance couldn't keep his laughter contained anymore, and he practically fell into Laney's room as he giggled.

"You're the apple of my eye!" Laney sang loudly as she skipped over to Lance and bopped his forehead where he lay on her floor. "Tío Lance! You can sing too!"

"Yeah, Tío Lance," Keith drawled, an amused smirk on his face. "Come join in."

* * *

"Mamá, thank you."

"Well, you guys don't really have a need for the things people typically register for when they get married, but your papá and I wanted you to have something."

Keith sat beside Lance at the small bistro Mora and Ray had insisted on taking them for lunch, and he handed the piece of driftwood over to Keith next. He watched as Keith smiled softly down at where _Keith & Lance_ had been etched into the wood.

"This reminds me," Keith said, slowly. As comfortable as he was with Lance's parents, he still found himself nervous in regards to what he'd wanted to ask them. But their wedding ceremony was _tomorrow,_ and he was beginning to berate himself for continuously putting this off. He felt Lance squeeze a hand over his thigh and tried to smile at Lance's questioning look — he hadn't run this past Lance before now, so he was likely confused — before he turned his attention back to Lance's parents. "I was hoping, well, I mean, if you wouldn't mind, I was hoping to change my last name to McClain."

"Wait, really?" Lance asked as his parents' eyes widened in delighted surprise. "I thought we were gonna, like, _hyphen_?"

Keith tried not to fidget in his seat as he nodded to Lance. "I just feel like I'm joining your family. I mean, unless you really want to hyphenate, I like the idea of becoming a McClain."

Mora was already sniffling as she pushed her chair back so that she could maneuver around the table and wrap Keith tightly in a hug. "Oh, Keith, you know you joined our family as soon as we met you," she said affectionately. "But we'd love that."

Ray nodded in agreement. He didn't stand, but he easily reached a long arm across the table to squeeze Keith's shoulder in acceptance.

"I'll miss Kogane," Lance said softly, although he couldn't keep the overly pleased smile off his face as he watched his mamá hug his husband.

"I can make it my middle name," Keith offered as Mora went back to her seat. "Maybe you'll refrain from inserting ridiculous middle names in there when you're mad at me."

"Cute idea, although that's not gonna stop me," Lance teased as he leaned over for a kiss.

"Well then you two can add McClain to the driftwood if you want," Ray mentioned casually as he pointed to the gift that sat in front of Keith. "And, there's also lots of room left on there, if you want to add on later."

"Add on?" Keith asked.

Lance grinned at him. "My parents have a piece of driftwood like this. They added the coordinates for their house when they bought it."

Keith hummed in understanding. "So, add on when we get a house that doesn't move around constantly."

" _If_ that happens, then there's space for it," Mora said gently. "You could also add the wedding date, if you wanted."

Keith nudged Lance's elbow. Lance kicked his foot lightly under the table.

"We'll think about it," Lance stated.

 _Still a hard no on telling them the truth._

Nevertheless, Keith couldn't help but smile as relief flooded through him. He ran his finger over the edge of the driftwood, the first of hopefully many McClain family traditions he'd get to partake in.

* * *

"You nervous about tomorrow?" Lance whispered over to Keith. There was a bit of moonlight coming in through the bedroom window, giving him just enough light to trace Keith's profile with his eyes as they lay in bed.

"Nah," Keith whispered back. "You?"

"I'm excited I finally get to call you my husband in front of everyone again."

"You could've already been doing that."

"Shush you. In twenty-four hours we'll be Earth married, and what my family didn't know won't matter."

"I've missed hearing it."

The fingers that had been trailing gentle patterns over Keith's chest froze at Keith's admission. Lance pushed himself up on an elbow so he could dip his head to kiss him.

"I'm sorry, _husband_." He felt Keith's lips spread in a smile against his lips as he whispered down to Keith. "I'll be sure to make it up to you after tomorrow, _husband_."

Keith chuckled. "You're going to make me regret telling you, aren't you?"

"No way, _husband_."

Keith growled and jabbed at Lance's elbow, knocking him off balance so that he fell forward to land on Keith's chest. It was what Keith had wanted anyway, and he happily wrapped his arms around Lance's back.

"Good night, husband," Keith whispered. He smiled as Lance laughed into his chest.

* * *

" _Pidge_!" Lance whispered harshly. He was standing just outside the kitchen, doing his best to keep his expression calm as he spoke to Pidge on the phone. The rest of his family was already running around trying to get the last minute wedding details organized, and he didn't want to add to the stress. "You're supposed to be officiating the ceremony in four hours!"

"Okay, well they're saying that since I'm not a Florida resident, I can't just be granted the power to marry the two of you."

Lance squeezed at the bridge of his nose and almost chuckled when he realized it was a move his dad always did when he was stressed.

"Four hours," Lance groaned. "What are we going to do?"

"Well, I put in a call to the Garrison, 'cause it seems like, with saving the universe, etcetera, that I should be granted this."

" _Right_? What'd they say?"

"They're… working on it. But, hey, at least you guys are technically already married?"

"But no one here knows that!" Lance exclaimed, beyond exasperated.

He turned his back to his mother when she looked up from her tablet, and then edged himself closer to the hallway that led back to the bedrooms. Somehow, despite the bustle in the house that morning, Keith was still passed out cold in their bed. Lance was seriously thinking about joining him — just hiding under blankets until it was wedding time.

He lowered his voice before he spoke again. "I just need this to be official, Pidge. Like, they'll hand us an actual certificate. Everyone says that that land of the whatever number seas guy was official —

"Because he is an actual universal priest, but okay."

"— but I don't have a certificate in my hands from him."

"Well, I can _make_ you a certificate."

"You know what I mean!"

Pidge sighed. "I'll call them again. And let you know as soon as I know anything."

Lance thanked her and hung up. He turned back to his family, but froze when the back windows of their house filled his vision. The sky was a deep gray color that only meant one thing.

Two seconds later, Lance and every other McClain in the vicinity stood gaping at the unexpected downpour of rain.

"Okay, we all know the weather changes around here every five minutes. I'm sure it'll clear up soon, Lance," Ray said from where he sat at the island.

"Well…" Gabby appeared by his side, "I'd say don't worry about a little rain, 'cause we've got the tent, but," — she flinched when there was a loud crack of thunder — "I just got off the phone with the dance floor people, and they're refusing to install it. They say there's a huge tear in the tent, which will leave the dance floor unprotected from, well," — Gabby waved a hand towards the rain — "this."

"That probably means the caterers won't want to be out there setting up food right now, either, huh?" Rosie asked slowly from Gabby's other side.

"We've got plenty of time to fix all that," Theo said with a wave of his hand, and Lance wished some of that carefree attitude would rub off on him right now.

"So, we'll call the tent people —" Mora started, but was cut off when Mark suddenly burst through the front door and shut it quickly behind him.

"Hey guys." Mark carried Laney, who didn't lift her head from where it rested on her father's shoulder as they entered the house. "So, two things. First, there are a couple news crews camping out on the front lawn."

Theo groaned, and he and Rosie raced to the front windows to pull the curtains.

"How did they find out about the wedding?" Gabby asked, pulling up her tablet to glare down at the vendors they were using. "We made everyone sign a privacy agreement!"

"And two?" Lance asked as he rubbed a hand down his face.

"Well, uh, two is that Laney wasn't feeling so great yesterday, and she tested positive for the flu this morning at the doc's office."

"Oh, chiquilla." Mora pulled Laney into her own arms to rock her back and forth for a moment.

"I'm really sorry, Lance," Mark offered. "I know this is terrible timing. I'm trying to get a hold of a babysitter who can stay here at the house with Laney during the ceremony, but so far —"

"Hey, Lance?"

Lance turned towards Keith's voice, and while he was reeling slightly from the amount of bad news being thrown at him, he immediately wondered how much of it he could keep from Keith.

He found Keith leaning against the entryway that led back to the bedrooms, not even trying to look like he wasn't completely using the wall for support.

"Keith?"

Keith's eyes tried to focus on him, and Lance's stomach dropped when Keith looked confused.

"I don't feel so good," Keith said, voice weak and pitiful.

And suddenly, none of the rest of this disaster of a wedding day mattered. He rushed to Keith's side and slid a hand from his neck up to his forehead.

" _Quiznak_ ," he cursed when he was met with heated skin. He sent a considering glance over to Laney, who had spent the better part of the past week climbing on Keith before turning towards Mark. "You said flu?"

"I'm really sorry," Mark said, throwing his hands up as if in defense. "Please don't call Red."

Mora's hands were still full with Laney, but she approached Keith as well, although Gabby beat her to him, and soon Keith had a few more people's hands on his forehead in order to check his temperature. He swayed slightly, but was steadied quickly by Lance's arms.

"I'm putting him back in bed," Lance announced, adjusting his arms so he could better support Keith in order to walk.

"Wait," Keith mumbled. "Just need, like, Tylenol."

"No, space cat," Lance said with a sad chuckle. He paused, though, and turned to the rest of his family, all of whom were thankfully in front of him. "Look, guys, I know you've all worked really hard this week, and you're still scrambling this morning because apparently everything is going wrong, and maybe that's my fault, because I wasn't honest."

"Lance," Keith tried.

Lance leaned in to kiss his hair as he shushed him. "I'm canceling today. And, really, it doesn't matter, because Keith and I are already married." He watched as equal levels of shock and confusion covered his family members' faces. "It was sort of an accident, but it was an official space marriage, and Keith said I should've just told you that, but I didn't want to take away from a wedding ceremony you guys could attend, so… Anyway, what matters right now that is that my husband needs to get back in bed and rest."

As Lance helped Keith shuffle back down the hallway to their room, there was a flurry of noise and movement from his family behind them. Fortunately, none of it was centered around the shock of Lance's announcement — all of it was fixed around taking care of their two sick family members, while also calling everyone else to cancel the wedding plans.

"I'm really sorry," Keith murmured as soon as his head was back on the pillow.

" _Bip bip bip_ ," Lance whispered. He sat facing Keith so that he could rest his considerably cooler hands on either side of Keith's overheated face. Keith's eyes — which had dulled from their normal brilliant purple to a bleary grey — closed on contact as Keith melted against his hands. "You're already my husband. Today wasn't going to change anything. What matters is that you feel better. And I'm going to stay right here until you do."

Keith's eyes squinted open long enough for him to offer Lance a weak smile. But then they squeezed shut as he groaned lightly into his pillow. His ears were pressed back tightly against his hair, and Lance wanted desperately to take this discomfort away from him.

Gabby came in then with an actual thermometer, which she quickly ran across Keith's forehead. She glanced at the digital screen after the beep and frowned. "He's definitely got a fever, at least for a human." She glanced down at Keith's flushed face. "What's his normal temperature?"

Lance drew a blank, and then groaned at the question. "I have no idea. I'm a failure as a husband."

Keith chuckled, which quickly turned into a cough, but he still managed to say, "You are not, you loser." He rolled to his back before pushing himself to sit up. That brought on a wave of dizziness, but he powered through it and focused on Gabby.

"Really, maybe just some throat lozenges, or —"

"That's not gonna cut it." Lance pressed the back of his hand to Keith's forehead again. "You've been infected by a toddler."

"I'll call the family doctor and get some flu meds," Gabby added.

"Not flu," Keith protested, proud that he managed to get all the words out before he sneezed into his elbow.

"Honestly, I'm two seconds from calling up a lion to cart you off to a healing pod."

"It's like a cold. Maybe allergies." Keith ignored Gabby and Lance's matching scoffing noises. "I'm _not_ going back to the castle. Pretty sure the healing pods don't work on viruses anyway."

"The flu meds will help." Gabby patted Lance's shoulder before heading towards the door. "Should cut his sick time down to just a couple days."

"Please lay back down," Lance murmured.

"S'posed to be getting married."

"We're already married," Lance said in a continued whisper as he scooted closer to Keith. He pulled his hands free so he could wrap his arms around Keith and use the hug as an excuse to lower Keith back down to the mattress.

Keith was too weak to protest anymore. He let himself be lowered back to his pillow and immediately curled to his side for sleep.

Within an hour, a flu prescription for not only Laney, but now also Keith, was delivered to the house. Lance stayed by Keith's side, while also fielding calls from the rest of their team who were all worried about Keith. At one point he could hear the reporters stationed on the front lawn begin to yell and get excited. The reason for this was revealed a few minutes later when he could hear the entirety of Team Voltron manage to make it through the front door and join his family out in the kitchen.

While Lance was grateful for the concern from the whole team, he was happy when only Hunk appeared in his bedroom door. Hunk relayed the rest of the team's sympathy over the wedding cancellation and checked in to see how Keith was doing for everyone.

"Dude, whatever you or your family need, we'll be here — you just worry about our Red Paladin, okay?" Hunk bent over to hug Lance, which he returned firmly, so grateful to his best friend. Hunk gave a little wave before Lance was left alone again with Keith in his quiet bedroom.

Then he curled himself around Keith and held on tight.

Within six hours, first Laney's and then Keith's fevers broke. And Keith stopped squinting any time his eyes were open — the only way Lance even knew that Keith's head had been hurting.

After doing the same for Laney — she'd been set up in the guest room — Ray came in and insisted that since the fevers had broken, the bed sheets be changed. Lance helped a very lethargic Keith out of bed, and watched as his father replaced the bedding lightning fast. Rosie appeared a few hours later with some dinner for him and toast for Keith. And Mark poked his head in several times to check on Keith and relay how Laney was doing.

On the second day, Lance was finally coaxed away from Keith to at least shower. And when he came back, he found his mamá in his spot, brushing Keith's bangs away from his face soothingly as she softly sang a song that he and his siblings only ever heard when they were sick.

On the third day, when Lance returned from his daily shower, he found Theo entertaining Keith — who was happily sitting upright — with videos of soccer games on his tablet.

With Keith feeling well enough to be upright again, he helped Keith through a quick shower. And later that day, since Keith was out of the window where he'd be considered contagious, he was even allowed to venture into the main room and sit on the couches with everyone for a little while. Laney, who was also recovering quickly, squished herself into a spot next to Keith (thankfully Keith didn't appear gun shy about sitting so close to their germ-sharing niece), where she promptly fell asleep tucked into his side.

On the fourth day, it was still dark outside when Lance felt Keith nudge his shoulder to wake him up.

"You okay?" Lance asked groggily as he rolled over and rubbed at his eyes.

"Yeah," Keith said. "Get up. Want to go watch the sunrise with you on the beach."

Lance grumbled, but pushed himself up out of bed anyway. He accepted the pants Keith handed him, and let Keith help him slide his arms into a shirt.

"Coffee?" he murmured as they walked through a silent, dark house to the backdoor. He rubbed at his eyes again in another attempt to get them open all the way.

"Later," Keith replied quietly.

Keith led them through the back gate and slowly through the wooded path towards where they could hear the waves crashing. Lance yawned and followed, not that he needed Keith's hand to guide him — he could walk this path in his sleep. And it wasn't as dark as it had been when Keith had first woken him, meaning that they were going to reach the beach just in time for the sunrise to truly spread its pinks and oranges over the water.

Which was basically the only thing he was expecting to see when they reached the beach.

What he got _instead_ was his entire family — parents, siblings, little Laney in a beautiful white flower girl dress — as well as his Voltron family — Hunk, Shiro, Pidge, Matt, Allura, Coran, and Shay — all standing together, dressed to impress, and clearly waiting for the two grooms to appear.

Lance's shocked eyes traveled slowly past a sleepy-looking band to their reception tent, the inside lined with twinkle lights that stood out in the semi-darkness, and lit up the inside to reveal the decorated tables and dance floor which were waiting for them.

He felt Keith's fingers against his chest and when he glanced down, he realized Keith was buttoning his shirt — the white shirt his mamá had bought for their ceremony. "Let's go get married again," Keith murmured.

"This is — yeah, yeah." Lance swiped at his eyes before he straightened the collar on Keith's own white dress shirt.

"You're losing the bet already." Keith's smile was fond as he leaned in and kissed Lance's cheek.

"I'm not!" Lance laughed wetly.

They both kicked off their flip flops before stepping in the sand as his mamá and Gabby approached them with their vests. Once those were quickly slipped on and buttoned, they received tight hugs before both ladies turned to rejoin the rest of the group.

And as the band began to play a processional, Lance looped his arm in with Keith's. The crowd parted for them until they reached where Pidge stood waiting with a smile. The incoming waves lapped over her feet, and Lance grinned as his own feet got wet. In his peripheral there were two photographers moving around the outskirts of the group to take pictures. And he could see Coran himself holding up what Lance knew to be a device to take video.

"I'd like to thank everyone for getting up so very _very_ early," Pidge began, pulling a few laughs from the crowd already, "so that Lance could enjoy a wedding video that included a sunrise, instead of a jail —"

"Pidge!" Lance hissed.

"What? You said they knew," Pidge replied with a shrug.

Lance could see a few questioning looks from his family, but he sent them an exaggerated grin before refocusing on Keith.

Keith who was giving him a _look_ that said they were not going to get out of telling his family the entire story at some point…

"Beginning again," Pidge said loftily, "because obviously do-overs are common deals when it comes to Keith and Lance's wedding vows."

"How many of these jokes do you have lined up for the start of this thing?" Lance muttered over to her as he caught Matt chuckling from where he stood next to Shiro and Allura.

Pidge appeared to be fighting off her own smile, before she announced, "Just like the first time around, Keith and Lance have written their own vows, and I will ask them to share them now."

With their fingers interlocked between where they stood facing each other, Keith squeezed Lance's hands, pulling Lance's attention away from rolling his eyes at Pidge, so that those bright blue eyes would focus on his face.

"Lance —" Keith had to stop and swallow past the lump in his throat. His eyes stung already and he was sure that Lance could tell his fingers were beginning to shake a little. He hadn't actually thought that he'd be the first to cry, especially after he won their rather aggressive rock-paper-scissor tournament and earned the right to say his vows first.

But, Lance was beautiful. Lance was always beautiful, but out here in the sand? Under the pink sky of the rising sun? His hair shone. His skin shone. His eyes shone. Lance was ethereal. Gorgeous. Long-legged, golden perfection.

To top off those stunning good looks, Keith knew the kindness and humor that filled Lance to the brim. All the goodness and selflessness. All the patience and love and soft touches.

Lance looked at Keith like no one ever had before. Loved him like no one ever had before. Keith wasn't sure how he'd managed to get this lucky.

"— before I met you, I'd never considered that home could be a person."

" _Jackass_ ," Lance choked out in a whisper as tears immediately fell from his eyes.

"You knew you were gonna lose that bet, buddy," Hunk murmured quietly from somewhere behind them.

Keith turned his head when someone nudged his shoulder, and accepted a handkerchief from Shiro. Instead of handing it to Lance, he quietly wiped the tears from Lance's face, while allowing himself to give in to a few tears as well.

"I've chosen you to be my home, Lance. And you've given me more than I ever even thought to wish for myself when I was younger. I don't know how to — how to thank you for that. Except to tell you that I" — he paused to wipe at his own eyes and chuckled when Lance's hands were there to do it for him — "I love you. And I'll always love you."

He glanced over at Pidge when he was finished, and found her swiping beneath her eyes. But she caught his look and turned to Lance.

"You're up, Lance," she managed.

Lance took a few deep inhales and exhales to steady his breathing as he kept his eyes pinned on his husband.

"Keith. Space cat. Light of my life." He smiled when he got a smile from Keith. "You make me feel safe and strong and important. And _loved_." He squeezed Keith's fingers. "Oh! And tall!"

For that, he got a light shove from his husband, as well as some laughs interspersed in the sniffling from the guests surrounding them.

"I'm kidding. Sort of. I mean, I am taller than you." He grinned again when that earned a soft grumble from Keith. "I do love making you laugh. We face some hard stuff, but it's always worth it when I can still make you smile at the end of the day. I make it through everything because you're by my side. I love you. And I just wanted to say thank you, Keith." His own soft smile turned up at the edges as he continued, unable to keep a tease out of his vows. "Thank you for agreeing to enter this legally binding contract that keeps you by my side for the rest of our lives."

There was another short chuckle from Keith before Keith yanked him forward by their joined hands and kissed him hard.

" _Guys_ ," Pidge hissed at them.

"We're already married, let him kiss me," Lance murmured around their kiss.

There was another round of laughter from the group surrounding them, and only when Keith felt like relinquishing Lance's lips, did he end the kiss by taking a small step back.

"I'm totally skipping over the _you may now kiss_ part later," Pidge grumbled once she had their attention again. "To continue, I believe Keith procured wedding bands made out of a volcanic island for you to exchange?"

As Keith and Lance turned to collect the rings from Mark and Shiro, and Keith could hear the crowd around them laughing again and enjoying these moments between them; he couldn't think of a time when he'd felt so secure in his place within a group. Not just his place beside Lance, or within Voltron, but within this entire group of people that they'd chosen to surround them as they pledged themselves to marriage. And he was grateful that they'd had this opportunity to come to Earth to share this with everyone.

He slipped the red and black band onto Lance's finger, before offering his own left hand for the band covered in blue and silver swirls.

"Lance," Pidge said as she watched them, "with this ring, let Keith be the fire that keeps you warm, and Keith, let your ring remind you that Lance is the calm within your storm."

"Pidge, that's really beautiful," Hunk sniffed.

"Great, now Pidge is out-romancing both of us at our wedding," Lance whispered.

"I, uh —" Keith started.

" _Don't_ say it," Lance whispered harshly.

"I may have given her those lines for the rings," Keith said with a small, bashful grin.

" _Keith_ ," Lance said as a new wave of tears spilled out of his eyes.

"Oh my god, just kiss him again," Pidge said, although her mocking tone did nothing to cover her own pleased grin.

Keith pulled Lance's tear stained face in for another kiss, this one softer than the first, but no less meaningful as his lips gently found their place against his husband's. Lance released a small sigh through his nose as he wrapped one warm around Keith's waist and pulled him in closer. They ignored the cheers and whistles from those around them, and just focused on how well they fit, like two puzzle pieces that were always meant to be together.

"So, by the power _finally_ vested in me, I pronounce you husbands, until death do you part."

"Pft. Even after that," Lance added. He watched one of Keith's eyebrows raise in question and grinned back at his husband. "We're gonna be badass space ghosts together, Keithy."

Keith pulled him closer and whispered, "I'm holding you to that."

* * *

Keith and Lance had no idea what was on the original menu from the caterers for the reception that was supposed to happen days ago, but they were both thrilled about all the Earth breakfast foods that were being piled on their plates at this reception.

And there was something about the early morning atmosphere that seemed to make all their guests pretty docile. Meaning almost all of the toasts were especially sweet and cheesy. In fact, the only remotely embarrassing story came from Theo, whose toast included an impressive number of puns and may have mentioned bonding with Keith over a certain box that had been left inconspicuously in their living room.

The laughter died down as Mora stood up to give her own toast, and Keith could feel the warning prickle behind his eye that said he might not be finished with the tears yet today. Because that warm, loving — _motherly_ — look she'd given him as she'd sat at his bedside and sang to him while he'd been so sick, was the same look she had pinned on him now.

"I wish I could say that I remember meeting Keith," Mora said. "But, while I know he appeared on our doorstep with Lance …" She paused to swallow and blink, clearly trying to fend off tears. "I'm afraid the only thing I really remember about that time is hugging Lance. Those first few moments with Keith are pretty hazy. First few hours, really.

"But that night, even though we were all eager to listen to Lance's story, we were talking over each other and getting frustrated. It broke my heart to see Lance grow angry as well. But, then Keith stepped in, and with only a few words — I don't even know what Keith said, and it doesn't matter — because with only a few words, I watched Lance drop the anger immediately and transform right back into the smiling, loving boy that we all remembered.

" _That_ is my first real memory of Keith." Her gaze had wandered as she had thought of the past, but she centered her attention on Keith again before continuing. "It was also the first of many times I had the opportunity to witness how well he and Lance seem to balance each other out. And I can only be grateful for that." She beamed at Keith, and he bashfully returned the look with cheeks tinged pink. "Keith, thank you for seeing who Lance truly is, and for loving him."

"Loving him _in spite of it_ ," Theo murmured. He grinned as Rosie elbowed him.

"And Lance," — Mora turned her attention to him — "thank you for wanting to share this important moment in your life. Sometimes, it feels like we miss out on a lot of your important moments, and we all appreciate that you wanted to share this with us. We know that you'll take good care of Keith — that you'll take good care of each other." She wiped at her eyes and laughed a bit at herself before she straightened again. "Now, get out here and dance with your mother."

Lance leaned in and kissed Keith's temple quickly before he jumped out of his seat to join her for a mother-son dance, which left Keith to sit and wipe at his eyes as subtly as possible. He'd definitely felt like a member of the family during past visits over the last couple years (and especially after having the rest of the McClain family pop in to take care of him or entertain him over the past few days). But, somehow, this touching speech from the McClain matriarch felt like an official declaration of his status as a McClain family member.

As Shiro dropped into the seat next to him, he gratefully looked to his friend for a topic change.

"You're not coming over here to suggest a father-son dance with me, are you?" Keith asked.

Shiro sputtered out the water he'd been drinking, and Keith threw his head back as he laughed.

* * *

"Keithy." Lance wiggled his fingers in what Keith could only describe as an adorable attempt to draw Keith out to the dance floor with him.

Adorable or not, Keith crossed his arms and sent a flat stare back.

Lance narrowed his eyes at the challenge before a slow smirk pulled at his lips. He turned his back to Keith and headed over to where the band sat so that he could pluck the microphone away from the lead singer. He looked back to Keith with one eyebrow raised in silent question.

Keith managed to keep his lips pursed as he shook his head.

Lance turned back to the band and must've requested a song because music soon filled their reception tent. And when Lance faced him again, he locked his gaze onto Keith as he began to sing.

" _I found a love… for me. Darling just dive right in and follow my lead_ …"

Keith watched Lance pause and lift an expectant hand towards him before wiggling those fingers again. He shook his head again, but he was also smiling and standing and heading towards Lance before he even knew it. Lance's smile was practically blinding as he handed the microphone back to the band and met him halfway. Keith slipped into what he thought of as _his spot_ within Lance's arms, and he let himself be guided around the dance floor for his very first dance with his husband.

" _I don't deserve this_ —" Lance sung in a whisper.

" _Darling, you look perfect_ ," Keith finished in Lance's ear.

Lance's eyes widened in surprise as he pulled back to grin at Keith. "You said you didn't listen to my _oldies_ music!"

"I don't," Keith said, pulling Lance in close again. "I just listen to you sing in the shower."

Lance hid his face in Keith's neck as he laughed before he pulled away again and tugged on Keith's hand. "Come on," he said, "I have something to show you."

He led Keith over to the edge of the dance floor, did a super obvious glance around the inside of their tent to see if anyone was paying attention, and then pulled Keith out into the sun-covered sand.

Keith looped his fingers in tight with Lance's, and it wasn't until they were away from the noise of the band and closer to their favorite spot on the beach that Keith asked, "Are you happy?"

Lance stopped walking and pulled Keith in close, resting his forehead to Keith's. "Mr. McClain," he said quietly before taking a moment to just smile softly at his husband (they honestly couldn't be any more married at this point). "If I was any happier, kittens would explode out of my face."

Keith's head flew back as he laughed, and Lance smiled as the wind swept Keith's bangs up before they rested in place again.

"We were having a moment!" Keith said with a wide grin. "This is why I end up being the romantic one out of the two of us, you know."

"Oh, is that so? Well, then I'm about to knock your romantic socks off."

Keith's ears perked up as he accepted the piece of paper Lance pulled from his pocket. His brows knit in confusion as he unfolded it and found that it was a sketch he himself had drawn one night months and months ago. A sketch he'd been unable to find since that time.

"You can't gift me my own artwork," he teased as he glanced back up at Lance.

Instead of responding, Lance wrapped himself around Keith's back so that he could turn Keith away from the ocean and towards the forest that lined their beach. Then he rested his chin on one shoulder, and gently pulled the paper from Keith's hands so that he could hold it up against the tree line that ran into the sand.

"You drew every tree up there," Lance murmured, in as much awe now as he was when he'd accidentally found Keith's drawing and squirreled it away for the future. He pressed a kiss to Keith's neck before he continued. "Perfectly spaced them, even. And then added a little house in between."

His breath had caught upon first seeing Keith's exact replication of the tree line of the forest where he'd spent his childhood, in what Lance could only interpret as Keith's own declaration that he loved this area as much as Lance did. And even though Keith had consistently teased him about building a shack on this beach for them, Lance had been pleased to find that the structure in Keith's drawing resembled more of a cottage, with handcrafted woodwork over the front door and shutters on each window.

Not that it truly mattered to Lance, because as long as they were together, he would've happily lived in a shack with Keith (he wasn't about to admit that to Keith, though).

Lance smiled then as Keith leaned his weight back into his chest as he began to murmur into Keith's neck again. "So, listen, I think when you're married, you're supposed to talk about big purchases before you make them, but I'm not sure that applies to gifts? Anyway, I sort of bought this section of beach, including that wooded area over there."

"Bought?" Keith exhaled.

"Well, _bought_ is sort of the wrong word, maybe, since we don't have any money? I _asked_ the government if we could have this," — Lance waved one of his hands out in front of them — "and they said yes. They even threw in some water and power lines, which should be installed before our next Earth visit."

Keith's hands were slightly shaky as he took the paper back from Lance's hands and held it up to the tree line himself, allowing his eyes to move back and forth between his sketch and the forest.

"Our future home," he whispered.

" _Bip bip bip_ ," Lance's lips moved slowly over the skin of Keith's neck. "The future place we'll _reside_. We already have our home."

"In each other."

" _Dammit, Keith_. That's my line. I'm being the romantic one right now!"

Keith chuckled before saying, "You do get credit for this. You did say it to me first."

Then Keith twisted in his arms and Lance was suddenly face to face with a Keith whose mouth was already lifted in a smile meant only for him. His eyes were glistening. Cheeks were pink. Ears relaxed. Hair floofy in the breeze. All missiles aimed at Lance's weak spots. Lance's fingers curled insistently around Keith's neck and he pulled him in close for a kiss.

* * *

 **Author Notes** :

I'd like to say a sincere thank you to everyone who encouraged me to add this part to the series. (I definitely balked at first…thinking I could never write anything sappy enough as a wedding story, but in the end I really enjoyed this).

And hugs and a huge thank you to Mytay for reading this over with me. Not only were her suggestions brilliant, but thanks to her, several of the sentences in this story don't start with the word "And". Unlike the beginning of this paragraph - sorry, Mytay – couldn't resist XD

Laney was teaching Keith the "The Cuppycake song"

Lance and Keith's first dance music - "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran because I'm a huge sap for this song.

Apparently lava rock jewelry is a thing (the research that goes into writing…) Lava rock beads are usually black or grey (go figure…though they can be dyed colors), and they usually have sponge-like textures (which doesn't sound like it would be tough enough material for a wedding band?) Clearly, I decided to ignore all the facts discovered through research and do what I want. After all, these are lava rock/ocean wave wedding bands from an alien planet, so clearly they're made of a strong alloy and Keith would find them in the perfect colors.

Suitboxers has created some lovely art for this story - it can be found on tumblr (I'm Reader115 there as well) or inside this story on the A03 site.


End file.
